I will be traveling to the Banff and Lake Louise area next summer and wanted some advice. I know what I want to shoot in the 3 days that I will be there, but not sure how feasible it will be to shoot everything. I will be traveling with my daughter (she is 7) and want to make sure that the locations are easy to access for a child.

Here is a list of locations that I would like to shoot at. If anyone has any specific locations and directions, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if I am missing any locations, please feel free to offer a suggestion.

I made a trip to that area a month ago and invested in Darwin Wiggett's set of 4 e-books that you can purchase through his website. They were a good investment that saved me a great deal of time. The books not only suggest where and what times of day to shoot, but also give GPS locations. I hope this helps. Gregg

ggleason wrote:
I made a trip to that area a month ago and invested in Darwin Wiggett's set of 4 e-books that you can purchase through his website. They were a good investment that saved me a great deal of time. The books not only suggest where and what times of day to shoot, but also give GPS locations. I hope this helps. Gregg
Agree You won't be short of places to shoot. We drove from Calgary to Jasper first two weeks of September. Stayed at Moraine Lake. Anywhere from there up to Jasper or back down Bow Valley Parkway to Banff are superb Moraine Lake is just stunning and make sure you walk along the path to the top and don't just shoot from the rockpile and in Kicking Horse Pass don't miss Emerald Lake.

That's quite an ambitious itinerary. If it were me, I'd be trying for the golden hour, which, in three days, would limit me to five or six good, possibly great, shots. My advice would be to narrow your plan to two or three must-have locations and do the due diligence at sunrise and sunset. If you're you're just content with snapshooting, however, go ahead and try to get all of what you're planning in three days.

Dano39Registered: May 04, 2010Total Posts: 269Country: United States

GeoffreySchmid wrote:
That's quite an ambitious itinerary. If it were me, I'd be trying for the golden hour, which, in three days, would limit me to five or six good, possibly great, shots. My advice would be to narrow your plan to two or three must-have locations and do the due diligence at sunrise and sunset. If you're you're just content with snapshooting, however, go ahead and try to get all of what you're planning in three days.

I agree with Geoffrey. I was in Banff for the last two weeks of September and I still did not make it to all of the places on my list (which was/is very similar to yours). And with your daughter, some of the places you will have to hike to the locations such as Johnston Canyon.

I am also recommending the set of Darwin Wiggett e-books that were mentioned. I bought them a few months before I went and they were extremely helpful for planning purposes and locations/time to shoot.

To get you started on your planning, going on the notion that you will be there for 3 days and the weather cooperates the entire time you are there; if you stay at Moraine or Lake Louise you can easily hit those two during the morning at one and the evening at the other since there are with a few kilometers of each other. During the day you can drive out to Peyto Lake and see it during the afternoon. I recommend that whole-heartedly. I had seen the photos of Peyto and its bright green water but it was something completely different to see in person under the sun.

Also, on another day, you could travel the Minnewanka Loop which will take you past the Cascade Ponds, Two Jack Lake, and Minnewanka Lake. The loop takes less than 30 minutes to drive if you don't stop. After that you can head up to Johnston Canyon, hike there for the day, and on the way out stop by Castle Mountain which you can't miss, it's beautiful especially in the evening at sunset.

Hopefully that will get you started, but remember there is a lot of travel involved between most of these places, I stayed in Banff and Canmore while I was there and it was a regular 40 minute drive in the morning from Banff to Moraine/Louise for sunrise/sunset. Peyto from Louise is another 30.

Thank you to everyone, the feedback is greatly appreciated. It is an ambitious list, but being from S. Florida, I don't have the opportunity to shoot mountains and such often.

Harry.CRegistered: Sep 17, 2012Total Posts: 492Country: Canada

Johnston Canyon Waterfalls is a nice little hike, but if you are going to go make sure you don't just go to the lower falls like 99% of the tourists. The upper fall is well worth the extra hike time and it puts the lower falls to shame.

In terms of star photography you don't really have to search very far for a good spot. The whole area is pretty much a dark site.

Cheers,
Harry C

Gary ClennanRegistered: Mar 29, 2007Total Posts: 7648Country: Canada

I recommend you buy a few ebooks from Darwin. Great information which all relates to your areas of interest. Have fun!